Requisite Knowledge Level for Understanding (* being beginner, ***** being expert): *
It is okay to do a little bit of research before your concert experience. Put a little effort into it. And right there, I probably lost some of you. You're thinking, "this is supposed to be a fun concert experience, where I go and listen to music, why do I need to do any work?" Don't think of it as work, though. Think of it as familiarizing yourself with the activity.
Things that you probably go to already: Basketball, Football or Baseball games. The movie theater. Other concerts of rock bands and pop artists. The funny thing is that we do not always realize how much we know about each of those activities before we go there. With sports, we probably know enough of the rules about how the game is played to know how and when to boo at the Referee/Umpire for making a bad call or when someone makes a particularly spectacular play. Often, too, you're familiar with the team's history, know what they will or will not have to do to make it to the playoffs, and you probably know the names of some of the key players on the team. When you actually go out to pay money to see a movie in the theater, you have almost certainly already seen a trailer for it, you might be familiar with the main story line (especially if it's a book adaptation), and probably have heard of most or all of the actors/actresses that are in the starring roles. When you go to a concert by your favourite band, you already have their albums, probably have the words to many of their songs memorized, you can name the lead singer and maybe even some of the names of the other members of the band.
So when you go to a classical concert, shouldn't you know a little bit about what's going on there? If you've never been to an orchestra concert before, maybe you thought that it would be just strings and didn't realize that there are woodwind and brass instruments that play, too. Knowing more about the following things will probably help you to enjoy your concert experience more. I will list some of the basic things that are good to know here below, but if you want to go further in depth than these, I would highly encourage it, and it can only add to your overall enjoyment of the concert. It might even give you something to talk about to the other patrons who are attending the event with you, or the people you meet there.
The Composer(s): Sometimes the concert will be all by the same composer (e.g. an all Beethoven program), sometimes, and more often, it will not. Knowing who wrote the pieces that are going to be performed on the concert will be a good way to prepare yourself for the pieces. Most easily, knowing the composer's name will help you determine when he/she lived and would then help you identify the probable era of music (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, etc...). This is helpful because music from different eras can sound as different as a song by Metallica would sound from one by Justin Bieber, as there can be a larger or smaller orchestra, with more or fewer types of instruments performing, as well as different forms of composition that are used and knowing when a piece was written can often give a clue as to these things (earlier pieces are more likely to be performed by smaller ensembles with fewer distinct instruments).
The Types of Pieces: On rare occasions, the concert will be just one massive work that spans an hour and a half or so, but on most concerts, you will have at least two or three different works, sometimes more, and I have listed the most common varieties of these below.
A Symphony (e.g. Mozart's 40th) is usually a lengthy work, and probably gets its own half of the concert. A classical symphony (i.e. an early symphony in the time span of symphony compositions) will probably be shorter than a romantic or a later symphony (e.g. most of Mozart's are around or under one half hour, and Mahler's 3rd is one of the massive hour and a half works). It is best to familiarize yourself with the number and types of movements (typically four, though there is much variation in these).
A Concerto (e.g. Tchaikovsky's violin concerto) is a work for solo instrument(s) and ensemble (usually orchestra). This will almost always be a special soloist brought in by the orchestra to perform this specific piece to showcase his/her virtuosity (so it wouldn't hurt to read up on the soloist as well). It usually has three movements, a medium-fast, slow, and then fast. Sometimes it might showcase multiple musicians (e.g. violin and cello), though they most commonly feature just the one.
An Overture (e.g. Rossini's "The Barber of Seville") is a short symphonic work that usually is written to precede the performance of an opera/ballet/etc..., and many of these have become popular enough that they are performed in their own right, so knowing the general story behind that full work might help your enjoyment of the piece (though some overtures are just written as stand alone overtures, thus allowing you to imagine your own story).
A Symphonic Poem (e.g. Strauss's Don Juan) can be short or long (10 minutes to an hour), and generally has a story to tell. Sometimes they might go along with a specific poem or story (e.g. Dukas's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"), but just as often they'll be a stand alone piece with no specific story (e.g. Strauss's "Alpinesymphony"). These again allows your imagination to run free (here, either imagining the young magician experimenting with his master's wares, or in the alps of Austria, experiencing a tumultuous day in the mountain terrain).
Other types of works of which to be aware would be Ballets, Operas, Masses, Requiems and Oratorios. Specific parts of these pieces are frequently performed by orchestras, and on occasion, the whole piece (though with a full Opera, you would want to be aware of that beforehand, as you probably had to buy tickets specifically from an opera company for that).
The Form of a Composition: This often goes right along with the type of piece, and the movements of, for example, a Symphony or Concerto (which are forms in and of themselves) will often be simply titled with the type of form used. Knowing the form of composition used for piece again can help in forming expectations. Knowing the difference between Sonata Form or a Rondo would help you to identify main or key melodies or motifs. Other common forms include Theme and Variations, Fugues, Minuets and Waltzes (though this by no means covers all forms used). These forms are used within movements and will almost never carry from the beginning to the end of a piece with multiple movements. Knowledge of these is especially assistant with finding anchor points and ways to understand different sections of a piece or movement that approaches 20 minutes in length or longer as it can be easy to get lost amidst a long stretch of music.
The Orchestra: Knowing what instruments that will be there on stage, and what sounds that they make may sound elementary, but it is helpful. You may be an ace when it comes to identifying the sight and sound of a Piano. You are also probably familiar with a Violin or a Cello by sight (by the way, when you're at the concert, pay attention the fact that there are two very distinct sections of violinists) and you certainly know what a Trumpet sounds like. But maybe you're not sure what an Oboe looks and sounds like, and you might be surprised to learn not only that the English Horn and the French Horn probably won't be sitting next to each other, but also that they are completely different types of instruments (though this may not be as surprising when you consider the French and English history... ah, stories for another day). You may be surprised to learn all the different instruments that a Percussion player might be asked to play. Other relevant instruments that are good to know would be Violas, Basses, Trombones, Tubas, Clarinets, Flutes, Piccolos, Bassoons and Harps. There's also that funny guy up front called the Conductor, and it might be nice to know what he's doing there.
Now, I don't list all of this because I think you have to go into concerts able to spit out a bunch of facts or have the pieces memorized in order to enjoy them. Far from it. I've gone to concerts where I know nothing about the piece coming up and had never heard any pieces by that composer before and came out the other side thinking that that was an amazing experience. But if you think that you've got this concert ticket and you do not want to go the performance and be completely lost within five minutes, this is a great way to get started. Maybe you can also find your favourite instrument, the one that you think sounds really cool, and try to listen to what they do through the pieces. If you want to listen to a clip of the pieces beforehand so you have things to listen for, youtube's probably got them. Even if you've memorized the pieces, there are still new and wonderful things to hear at live concerts. They are so much more engaging than listening to a CD. I've been to performances of pieces that I have literally memorized from beginning to end and of which I have recordings that I deem to be the supreme, never to be surpassed recording of this piece, to find myself surprised and delighted with new and amazing parts of this piece. A little knowledge can go a long way towards making your concert experience a great one.
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